Letters of Confessions
by Lockpicked
Summary: Orihime had written a letter for Ichigo that she had planned on giving him for Valentine's Day but chickens out, fearing his rejection. But somehow, he still manages to recieve it thanks to a certain raven haired Shinigami. I do not own any of this!Thanks


_This... This is from… I-Inoue... _His mind croaked as his eyes re-read the small, crinkled up paper in his hand. His cheeks turned a crimson hue as his brown eyes shown disbelief and shock. The healing princess, Inoue Orihime, had given him of all people a love letter. He looked to his door to see if she would just suddenly pop out of nowhere like usual but that didn't seem to be the case this so he huffed a sigh, laying the letter back on his nightstand. He placed one of his hands over his face, feeling the heat radiating from his blush. _I can't believe that Inoue has feelings for me… She chose me, over every other guy that's out there… _The main question that was now running through his head was, "Do I return her feelings?" He had never really thought about such thing until now so he was a bit lost to this situation. He knew that he did care for her as a friend but was that it? Each time he was near her he did get the butterflies in the pit of his stomach and a blush would threaten to creep up his neck. To him, he had no real experience in feelings and such. He swallowed the lump in his throat and stood from his bed where he had been sitting when he found the letter. _I guess it's time to find out… _He quickly grabbed his jacket that was draped across his chair and headed out the door, dodging one of his father's round house kicks.

"Ichigo, my boy, you dodged my attack! I'm proud to call you a man now!" Isshin shouted, crying fake tears of joy down his cheeks.

"Shut up you old man! I don't have time for you!" Ichigo glared at him, punching his jaw and sending him across the room. Grumbling he slipped the jacket on and stepped outside into the cool winter breeze. After having calmed down, his thoughts drifted to Orihime making a faint blush appear on his cheeks. It seems that every day now; this is where his thoughts seemed to be centered around. That had to mean something right? Well to him, he would merely shrug it off saying it's where he hadn't seen her in such a long time. He raked his hand through his tangerine colored hair with a frustrated huff. _This is getting me no where… _He shook his head and turned the corner, feeling a body immediately crash into his knocking them both to the ground.

"A-ah, I-I'm so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going and—"

Ichigo looked up to see none other than Inoue Orihime on top of him, muttering excuses as she blushed profusely from embarrassment with her eyes closed. He felt his face flush, recalling that letter from earlier to his mind. "I-Inoue…"

"And then the blue men said that they were going to hurt me but—"Hearing the familiar voice of her hero, her gray eyes snapped open in shock. "K-Kurosaki-kun?" Realizing she was still on him, she quickly scrambled off of him.

Ichigo sat up, rubbing his head with a scowl on his face. "Jeez Inoue, you have such a hard head."

"I-I'm sorry Kurosaki-kun! Are you okay?" She leaned towards him, her gray orbs showing worry.

Ichigo blushed and cleared his throat, looking away. "I-I'm fine Inoue." He quickly stood up and dusted the snow off his clothes, then offered to help her up.

Orihime gingerly took his hand with a shy smile as he helped her up, muttering a small thank you. She then proceeded to do what he had done earlier and dusted off her clothes.

Ichigo watched her with interest as she continued to dust the snow off with a smile adorning her face. He knew she was very beautiful and very smart, when need be. A lot of men, exception for Chizuru, were even attracted to her. He gave a small shiver thinking of that woman that would always try and attack his Hime. _My Hime..? What the… She's not mine! _Ichigo smacked his face with his hand, sighing heavily.

Orihime watched him from the corner of her eyes noticing his distress and frowned. "Kurosaki-kun, is everything okay?"

"Yea I'm fine. Just a bit… Distracted…" He offered a small smile, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "So, Inoue, what are you doing out this late?"

"Oh! Um, what was I doing again?" She scratched her head, looking at the ground in deep thought. They stood in silence for a minute or two before the auburn haired girl spoke up again. "I remember now! I had run out of red bean paste for my cupcakes and I came out to go buy some more. Rangiku-san is coming over again soon and I promised to make her some of my delicious cupcakes!" She smiled brightly, not noticing Ichigo's grimace from hearing about her food.

_I don't see how Rangiku stands it… But as long as it makes Ori—D-did I just about say her name? What's wrong with me? _Ichigo let out a sigh, once again ran his hand through his hair and tugging at the orange locks. "Inoue, can we talk?"

Orihime blinked, looking at him with worry hoping that this talk wouldn't be about something bad, "S-sure Kurosaki-kun."

Ichigo gave a light nod and grabbed her arm, leading her to the park. He fought off the blush threatening to claim his cheeks because of his close proximity of her. Orihime was following close behind him, her cheeks flushing a dark red color. She had no idea what he could possibly want to talk to her about, making her worry even more. Had she done something to anger him? She hoped she hadn't, that was the last thing she wanted to do.

Once they were deep enough into the part where there were less people about, Ichigo let go of her arm, turning to let go of her. "Inoue, what's…?" He said her name softly, causing her to stutter a quick reply as she watched him fish around in his coat pocket. He finally pulled the piece of folded up paper out of his pocket, holding it out in front of her with a blush tainting his cheeks. "This…"

Orihime hesitantly reached out and took the paper, reading the neat hand writing adorning the front page that spelled out his name. _M-my letter for him for Valentine's Day… H-how did it… I know I didn't give it to him, I was too scared. But then…? _Orihime's face flushed a crimson color as her eyes were wide with surprise as her hands shook lightly, clutching the paper tightly in her delicate hands. "K-Kurosaki….Kun… W-where did you find this?" Her voice was light, as she looked at him with fear in her eyes.

"It was on my dresser when I woke up this morning..." He raised his hand, scratching his head in an awkward manner.

"O-oh, I see. K-Kurosaki-kun…" She murmured softly, drawing his attention back to her with a curious glance. "Did you already read it..?" He had to lean in towards her a little to understand what she was saying, making the poor girl blush even worse. She glanced up at him, seeing him give a small nod. "Then you should already know what it is…" She quickly turned away from him, blushing hard as she looked to the ground fearing what he would say. Orihime knew he had feelings for Rukia, or so she thought, which is why she didn't ever give him that letter. He and Rukia had a strong connection that Orihime envied very much. She had even gotten jealous of Rukia on more than one occasion, but she would tell herself its wrong and beat herself for it. Not physically but mentally of course. She heard him mumble her name and she took a deep breath, closing her eyes ready to hear his rejection but was surprised when she felt his lips upon hers. Her eyes immediately snapped open as a dark red blush covered her whole face, tensing up from the sudden contact. When he pulled away, he had a blush on his face as well as he looked into her eyes. "K-Kurosaki…"

Ichigo quickly pulled her into his arms, resting his head on top of hers with a soft smile. "I like you too Inoue."

Orihime stiffened in his arms, slowly raising her eyes to look up at him. _Kurosaki-kun… Returns my feelings? What about Kuchiki-chan? Didn't he like her..? _She thought she was in another one of her dreams where Ichigo would confess his love for her and they would live happily ever after. That is, until she was woken up by the sound of her alarm clock and dragged back to reality. But one glance in his eyes proved that it was indeed reality and she buried her face in his chest, hiding the tears that were falling down her face. "I-I'm so happy Kuro—"

"Ichigo. Call me Ichigo." He grinned, holding her tighter against him.

"I-Ichigo," She mumbled against his shirt, loving how it felt to call him by his first name. She felt her heart swell as she smiled brightly, her tears slowing. "Ichigo-kun, that means you have to call me Orihime now."

"Of course, Orihime," He smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Orihime gave a content sigh, letting his scent overflow her senses. He smelt of vanilla with a hint of strawberries, making her giggle. That of course caught Ichigo's attention but he didn't say anything, enjoying the moment of hearing her tinkling laughter. She still didn't know how her confession letter got to him, but she was happy it did. Everything she had yearned for the past year or so was finally coming true making her the happiest girl in Karakura town. The newly found couple quietly made their way out of the park hand in hand, not noticing the pair of violet eyes watching them in amusement.

"Finally," Rukia muttered under her breath, watching them leave. With her plan being a complete success, the petite shinigami went back to the Soul Society, ready to spread the word about Ichigo and Orihime.


End file.
